Wanted: the best young sports media talents in Germany – and the world!

The chance to go behind-the-scenes and shape the media coverage of one of the world’s biggest multi-sport events was revealed on Thursday with the launch of a recruitment drive for the next generation of sports media professionals. An expansion of the FISU Young Reporters Programme in place since 2011, the Organising Committee of the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games is seeking 28 up-and-coming reporters, photographers, and audio-descriptive commentators for its pioneering Young Sports Media Talents project.

All applicants will be invited to a series of online guest lectures this spring while the fortunate few chosen for FISU Games-time positions will be enrolled on a comprehensive training programme in the weeks before the sports festival of the year begins on 16 July.

“We’re absolutely delighted to be throwing our net out with this project for the very first time,” Maxim Berdnikov, the media services manager for the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games, says.

"The idea to expand the programme to two additional categories (photography and commentary) was borne out of the increasing interest of students in these two fields, as well as our goal to make the event as inclusive as possible.”

Worldwide reach

Successful applicants will be sports-mad, enthusiastic and committed, and aged between 18 and 25 when the FISU Games begin on 16 July.

In total, 17 German national students are sought: six as mixed zone reporters, five as photographers, and six as audio-descriptive commentators for visually impaired spectators. Supplementing these will be a further 11 international (non-EU) students: six as reporters and five as photographers. A separate programme to recruit EU students with the support of the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme will begin early in 2025.

In return for an unwavering commitment, the project offers free travel and accommodation, the support of expert mentors, and a unique window on the world’s best student-athletes in one or more of the six host cities: Bochum, Duisburg, Essen, Hagen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, and Berlin. All of this in a fast-paced but fun working environment, while recording history at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games.

“The FISU-AIPS Young Reporters Programme has been central to the successful coverage of the FISU World University Games since 2011," says FISU President, Leonz Eder. The fact that the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 Organising Committee is taking this one step further is truly exciting and will offer many new possibilities to young media talents from around the world.”

In keeping with the innovative staging concept of the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games, a global recruitment campaign is now underway for all three categories (reporters, photographers, and audio-descriptive commentators). In another first, all training materials for the project are being made open source thanks to an educational platform called 'U-Media', which will launch in Spring 2025, again with the financial support of Erasmus+.

“In contrast to limiting the access to only selected participants, this time all interested students will be able to benefit from the open-source materials such as sports glossaries and practical guidelines,” Berdnikov says.

“And in order to deliver a comprehensive training programme, we have established numerous partnerships with industry experts, universities, and National University Sports Federations.”

More information about the project and the application form are available via this link.